THOMASVILLE- What started as a fun Thanksgiving tradition among friends has evolved into an annual event to fight food insecurity within the community.

On Monday, Nov. 25, Thomasville’s Rodd Firm hosted their third annual “Pack a Sack” Party ahead of the holiday. The food packing event took place at Hubs and Hops and welcomed nearly one hundred volunteers.

From 6-9 p.m., Thomasville locals and volunteers from surrounding towns filled and loaded up 250 boxes with a variety of non-perishable foods. Each donated meal consisted of three boxes of mac and cheese and six cans of corn, green beans and fruit, which will soon accompany a turkey.

The volunteers worked in stations and completed their work in approximately 30 minutes. After their work was finished, each received a t-shirt, two drink tickets for the brewery and a free meal from the onsite food truck, Taqueria Cabaña. Thomasville’s Blue Burden band provided entertainment and played throughout the event.

Monday’s party precedes the personal injury firm’s fifth annual Turkey Toss. The toss is the main event of the week and will be held Wednesday at Paradise Park, where the turkeys will be smoked and distributed by Rodd and his fellow volunteers.

The Rodd Firm founder Chris Rodd was excited for both the packing event and the upcoming toss. “This is our opportunity just to share and love on our community,” said Rodd.

The attorney started the toss and packing events after realizing he could turn a simple holiday tradition into a way of feeding over one hundred families.

“When I started my firm and we moved across from Paradise Park, I just said, ‘Clarke, what if we smoked 100 [turkeys] and give them all away,’” Rodd said.

Ahead of Thanksgiving, Rodd and his friend Clarke Liles would originally smoke turkeys in their driveway for fun, but as soon as Rodd opened his own firm, he realized they could make a much larger impact.

Their initiative has been successful for nearly half a decade now. Community members have consistently nominated those in need or deserving, such as veterans and the sick, for these meals. This year, Rodd has provided 112 Butterball turkeys for the event.